For all practical purposes the book can be divided in two parts. The first part (p. 1-159) lays out the theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology. It consists of the introduction, written by Cosmides, Tooby and Barkow, an essay written by Tooby and Cosmides entitled 'The psychological foundations of culture', and an essay written by anthropologist Donald Symons entitled 'On the use and misuse of Darwinism in the study of human behavior'. The second part (p. 160-637) is a collection of empirical research papers meant to introduce the reader to some topics of interest in evolutionary psychology.

Much like the text that established sociobiology, The Adapted Mind provoked critical reactions among many in the fields of both psychology and biology. One direct, albeit recent, reference to the text in a critical context is David Buller's Adapting Minds: Evolutionary Psychology and the Persistent Quest for Human Nature. The continuing debate over evolutionary psychology is covered in the main page for that topic.